My wife has shockingly gone on a DIY run. She has spackled and painted walls and spray painted furniture. I have gone on a cleaning/organizing binge - closets, garage, shed and. And I'm trying to train myself to read again. I've also been doing all of the dinner cooking. And when cooking a lot, I want good food and good gadgets to facilitate the process.
So while I have held back on many dumb discretionary purchases during the age of corona, I have made some smart purchases to help me cook and help me pass the time. I thought I would share some ideas with you fine folks.
High quality meat thermometer (insert joke here, Zman)
We had an old fashioned meat thermometer. It sucked. I recently bought a good electronic one on Amazon. It gives temps in a couple seconds. Has been helpful as I cook bone-in chicken breasts, pork chops and thick steak cuts on the grill. Here's the one I bought (link here):
Empire of the Summer Moon
Yeah, so iPhones and iPads pretty much took away my ability to read books. The realization hit me a couple years ago. I start and rarely finish books. I just struggle to disconnect from my connected e-life for 20+ minutes at a time. But I found a good read you all might like. This book talks about the all-powerful Comanche tribe on the central US Plains in the 19th century, and how the US finally battled them into submission. It's an amazing look at the tribe. They were no saints, but they had a code. And it's a deep-dive into how and why Manifest Destiny-emboldened Texans pounded all American Indian tribes into submission. Not one of America's proudest moments. Link is here.
Lifeline Power Wheel (ab wheel)
I have been pretty good about the exercising thing. I have a makeshift basement set-up, complete with a coffee table functioning as a bench. And an old purchase - the Bowflex adjustable dumbell set - has been a godsend. I try to get out regularly as well to bike and run. My 10 y/o and I have run as much as 3.25 miles together, which is as good as bonding gets. But when working out in my basement, nothing crushes my abs/core like the ab wheel. The first week of soreness is brutal and humbling, but I find it orders of magnitude more effective than crunches. It also doubles as comic relief b/c your kid(s) will try to use it. And they will fail and fall and you can point at them and laugh while shooting video on your phone. Link is here.
Rubber-edged tongs
We have nice pots and pans we use for cooking. And we're using the shit out of them these days. I found a deficiency in my utensil arsenal: rubber-edged tongs. They're a god-send when gently flipping breaded chicken, bacon, chicken tenders and more. I hate that tight-rope of avoiding scratching a frying pan with a metal tong. These bad-boys have gotten heavy usage in the last two months (link is here):
Smores Kit
This is a no-brainer family fun purchase if you don't have a fire pit. Plenty of options under $30. We have one that uses a small sterno. Not keto-friendly but damn delicious as a treat. And who doesn't love a flaming marshmallow? It indulges every boy's pyrotechnic leanings in a safe, family-friendly way. One option is here. There are electric and sterno options. Ours is sterno, but it has a covering so you can't put the marshmallow too close. It's possible that the sterno is toxic and dangerous, but then so is New Jersey.
ESPN+
We pulled the trigger on this for the $5/month cost. Now I can read all the Kiper stuff! But the jewel is having all of the 30 for 30 docs on demand. I have chugged through a ton with my kids: Bo Jackson, June 17, 1994, The OJ doc series for a second time (with the wife), the Hank Gathers doc, the Laettner doc, the Hillsborough doc (that was a heavy one) and The Two Pablos come to mind. We are getting Disney+ for free from Verizon for now, but I know we're going to get sucked into the Hulu/ESPN+/Disney+ troika for $13/month soon.
Bone-in pork chops
This fell off our radar screen a while ago. It's a contentious food item in my house b/c the wife thinks any pinkness will kill us, despite the multiple credible articles I send her saying pink pork is fine. Here's one of many examples. I can't stand a dry, overcooked chop. Cooking a nice, thick pork chop makes that meat thermometer all the more important! Cliff Notes version: Pull your chops from the grill at 140 degrees, let them rest under foil for five minutes and they'll heat to 145 degrees. That's what you want. I found a good simple marinade for chops that only need an hour or two to make an impact: 2 parts soy sauce, 1 part honey and some minced garlic and red pepper flakes.Salty and sweet. Like Marls after four drinks.
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16 comments:
Happy Belated B-Day, Danimal.
Will have to try the quick pork marinade. And red pepper flakes definitely go a long way to amp up the heat. I'm a fan of taking green beans or peppers sealing them up in foil with some olive oil and red pepper flakes, grill them to your preferred doneness, flipping once. Gives them a little or a lot more kick depending on amount used.
If you don't have a fancy meat thermometer just use your hand for guidance.
now that tr has followed whitney's documentary documentation with his own quarantine log, i believe we have a recurring bit.
And TR’a a worthy doc pursuits. 30 for 30 superseded my expectations, Simmons is a bit much for my tastes but came through mightily.
My faves include the ones on Jimmy V, Marcus Dupree, Gathers (Westhead), Len Bias, Terry Fox, SMU, little league, and, of course, The U. The USFL one is a jarring look at Donald Trump and what he did to that league many years before he did it to this country.
I’m keeping the music docs one alive, here and there. Update sometime soon.
i'm in the midst of "the heartbeat of wounded knee: native america from 1890 to the present" by david treuer. compelling revision to what you might think about native america.
they've certainly had plenty of experience with pandemics . . .
my wife is in the midst of a 'have others do it' spree. we've had the house painted, work done on our deck to keep the dog from digging underneath it, several new items of patio furniture delivered, and next week we're kicking off a pretty significant landscaping project in the back yard. kinda wish diy was on the table.
I've been thinking of renting some sort of excavator to diy terrace the backyard, but I doubt my wife will go for that.
Rootsy, maybe she will go for it as a birthday gift?
(Happy Birthday, my man.)
I doubt it, but thanks for the suggestion and bday wishes. It was six years ago that Whit and Rootsy tore up the star city for a boozy, memorable night.
It was a humdinger
FYI to a segment of the audience: Tortuga's Lie re-opens Thursday for takeout. Most of menu available.
do they deliver to northern virginia?
I had been checking their FB feed. This is good news.
Toying with sneaking down and renting a shack over Memorial Weekend.
Jazz Dave, I am listening to your Odyssey. It's great to have on in the background whilst working.
yes! free form jazz in front of a festival crowd!
my wife and i installed a screen door yesterday.
what about the martha wood?
The Martha Wood has several screen doors.
Also, it should be open for biz, but I've heard nothing from the family.
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